Independence and Constraint

I had an interesting discussion recently with a couple of colleagues about how to foster employees' creativity. We discussed a number of things, but one of the ideas that stuck with me was the interplay of independence and constraint.

At first blush, the terms seem to be diametrically opposed. Independence is about an individual having control, while constraints allude to limitations or restrictions placed on an individual that are outside of their control. How can you have both?

But the two ideas can work together in the workplace to foster creative employees. Giving employees autonomy, or independence regarding how something gets done, is a great way to enhance intrinsic motivation and encourage employees to find the best way to do or create something. But to do or create what? There needs to be some constraint imposed that directs the behavior in the intended direction. Basically stated, there should be clearly stated goals for the employees to work toward, and clearly established boundaries regarding the resources available. When employees have clarity in their purpose and the resources available, this clarity empowers them to focus their attention on how to achieve the desired goal using those resources. Once those parameters have been clearly set, the employee is free to creatively work within those constraints. They are told what needs to be done and the tools available, but they are not told how to do it.

Maybe an example from my own life will help illustrate my point.

When I was in college, a roommate received a magnetic poetry kit - you know, the kind where each magnet is a word and you can stick them on your fridge and move them around to form all sorts of funny sentences.

(image from lessonplans.dwrl.utexas.edu)

This particular set was a genius magnetic poetry kit, or at least something very similar. It included a lot of words that the average person (like myself) would have to look up in the dictionary to understand.

My roommate challenged me to come up with a poem using only the words from that magnetic poetry kit. This gave me a clear goal (to write a poem) and clear resource boundaries  (only using words from the box), which helped instill intrinsic motivation to see what I could accomplish using what was available.

From that experience came the following poem:

Verbose

To question admonition

And every sound you see

Is to understand the mind of man

And spurn society

Above an almost salient space

I languish upon feeling base

Expunge myself as I eschew

The miscreant I make of you

How clever and curious our repose

Obscured by words no scholar knows

Time has lapsed this turgid zeal

Hence forming only her vapid will

I wrote dozens of poems in high school and have written dozens of songs as a singer/songwriter. But I think this is one of my most creative works. Why? Because of the clear goals and limited resources, along with the latitude in process, I had to think about things in a different way than I typically would when writing a poem or a song. In other words, those constraints aided my creativity by forcing me to think outside the box (or inside this specific box, in this case), while the independence allowed me the freedom to experiment and see what worked best.

- - - The Bottom Line Tip - - -

To foster creativity in your employees, try giving them a specific goal and outlining the resources available to them to achieve the desired goal. Then let them go and see what happens. The results just might surprise you.

The Purpose of HR

I am working right now to put together a training on the subject of effective HR practices, and one of the first questions I plan on asking the training group is this:

"In one sentence, how would you describe the purpose of HR?"

In my research (a.k.a. Google search), here are some of the answers that I came across:

• HR's duty is to bring the best people into the best position.
• HR exists to protect a company from its employees.
• The purpose of HR is to fulfill organizational goals by implying tools which focuses on enhancing performance with concern for its employees.
• The purpose of human resources is to live.
• The HR department is to is there to guarantee that the right candidates get appointed to the right task at the right time and the job offered to them utilizes their capabilities to the maximum, adding to self-motivation and leading to better performance.
• HR is there to hire and fire.
• The HR function is to hire, train, motivate and support productive employees.
• An effective Human Resource department facilitates the execution of your company’s mission within the boundaries of employment law.
• HR's sole purpose is to take the fun out of work for everyone.

I have my own thoughts on the issue, which I will save those for another post. But I want to hear your perspective. Do any of the answers listed above ring true to you? Or is there a better way that you would describe HR's purpose?

Doing Things vs. Getting Things Done

Note: Every once in a while on this blog, instead of focusing on the weird and unique, I will actually try to offer tips and advice and make a genuine contribution, like with this post.

If you are like me, sometimes you feel like you are just spinning your wheels at work - always doing something, but not seeming to get anything done. It is a frustrating feeling that, if left unchecked, can sour your own perception of your work contributions and your job fulfillment.

In essence, it is important to understand that there is a difference between being busy and being productive. A recent blog post on The Happiness Project  refers to it as Fake Work and Make Work. In other words, sometimes it is easier to be busy than to be productive.

One model that I use to ensure that the work that I am doing is productive and effective is the 2x2 model of urgent and important work, as described by Steven Covey in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

According to this model, there are four quadrants where we spend our time:

Important & Urgent - These activities are important to you, to your job, and/or to the company for which you work. In addition, these are extremely time sensitive and need to be done soon, if not immediately. Examples might include rushed jobs on a tight deadline, serving in-store customers, trying to hire a new employee immediately because a recent employee quit unexpectedly, and work that has been procrastinated until near its deadlines.

Important & Not Urgent - These activities are similar to the activities above in that they are important to you, your job and/or your company. But unlike the activities above, they are not extremely time sensitive. Examples might include jobs and/or goals on a long-term deadline, preparing in advance for upcoming meetings, and modifying job descriptions for upcoming positions that will need to be filled.

Urgent & Not Important - These activities take precedence on your time, while they are not important for you, your job, or your company. Examples include coworkers stopping by unannounced, some phone calls, and getting roped into helping another employee at the expense of your own work.

Not Urgent & Not Important - These activities are not important at all to you, your job, or your company, and they are not urgent either. Examples include personal emails and phone calls, browsing the internet, online chatting, and playing games.

To me, the secret of getting things done is to spend as much time as possible in the Important & Not Urgent sector, where you are making progress and accomplishing tasks on your own time line and with a minimal amount of stress. The other three sectors may give you the illusion of getting things done, when in reality, you are merely doing things. Let me explain what I mean by breaking down each sector.

Important & Urgent: It is true that when you spend time in this category, you may actually be getting this done, but you do it at the expense of additional stress and a heightened likelihood of making mistakes. The more frantic and urgent you feel, and the more pressure to quickly complete the task, the more likely you are to miss some steps or make some mistakes along the way, which results in additional work and additional stress in having to do this work over again.

I have a co-worker that loves to live in this quadrant. He is always, in his own words, "putting out fires and running in a thousand different directions." I have to admit that, at times, it can be difficult working with this coworker because I am not called in until something is critical and needs to be done immediately. So, by being drawn in to his Important & Urgent quadrant, all of a sudden I find myself in my Urgent & Not Important quadrant - helping my coworker put out his fires, while neglecting my own work.

Urgent & Not Important: This is the sneakiest of all of the categories. Because the activities in this area are urgent, you get the impression that you are actually making a difference and getting work done. The problem here is that, while you may be completing these urgent activities, it is not making a dent to your important job-related tasks. This truly is "spinning your wheels," getting caught up in urgent work without getting important work done. And when you do that, then your Important & Not Urgent work starts moving closer and closer to that Important & Urgent category, creating more unnecessary stress.

Not Urgent & Not Important: Sometimes, you just need to take a break. Studies have shown that a quick walk, a healthy snack, and maybe even a quick game of solitaire can be beneficial to your productivity. Where you run into problems is when these activities become counterproductive. When you are overly stressed about upcoming deadlines or a heavy workload, it's tempting to just walk away or to ignore the work by escaping into internet browsing, online shopping or similar activities. But once those activities are completed, your important work is still there waiting, as the deadlines creep even closer. You have done nothing to help your situation, and may have even made it worse.

- - - The Bottom Line Tip - - -

Spend as much time as possible in the Important & Not Urgent quadrant. By focusing on your important tasks before they become urgent, you have more time and attention to give. You will be less prone to make mistakes, encounter less stress, be more productive, and get things done!

Throwing Back a Cold One is Put on Ice

If you are like most people, when you think of the perks or benefits associated with your job, you might think about your 401k, insurance, bonuses, employee discounts or paid time off. But if you worked at Carlsberg Breweries in Denmark, you could add a unique perk to your list: the right to throw back a cold one at any time during the work day - at least until recently.

Workers at the brewery recently went on strike when company management unilaterally restricted the workers' right to drink beer on the job to only three pints per day, and only during breaks and lunch. I guess before that, the workers could enjoy a brewski pretty much anytime during their shift. And according to quotes from the Wall Street Journal article, this included forklift operators and truck drivers (who can still drink their three pints a day, as long as they can pass the Alcolock breathalyzer safety device for their vehicle).

Sounds to me like a non-stop party and/or accident waiting to happen. But representatives for the company claim that they have a low accident rate related to alcohol, and the change was made more because of recent studies that linked alcohol consumption with lower productivity.

For now, the workers have temporarily ended their strike, and management has agreed to revisit the restriction and negotiate with employees. Keep an eye on this story as it keeps brewing. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)